Dench
"You don't have the right to talk to me anymore, elf! You're all just as bad as the drow!" - Dench's response to Aariel. Appearance Though his looks were much less than to be desired for, there were very few that could match the Bonecrusher in hand to hand combat. Very tall, heavily built, with long black hair and dark green skin, Dench was much closer to an orc than a half-orc. As most orc soldiers, he bared many scars across his entire body as a sign of strength. Biography Early Life Dench's father was a highly esteemed general in the orc army. One day, he met a human woman and they fell in love. Not long after, the woman became pregnant with his child, and Thokk stayed awake for the entirety of the nine months in order to ward off any attack. She was not attacked much during the pregnancy, but an entire elven army marched on them on the day Dench was born. Thokk killed most of the elves, but a few got past him and managed to kill his wife just after Dench was born. The elves went to attack the newborn, but were taken aback by his sheer strength at birth. Dench quickly killed the elves using one of his fathers great axes. From that day forth, Thokk decided to train Dench to harness his strength, and even increase it to new heights. On his 20th birthday, a drow killed his father in his sleep, as only a coward would. Dench didn't know who the drow was, but burned his face into his memory so that he could kill him and get revenge for his father. Untold Origins Dench spent a good amount of his time in bars across Bretton, as it was the easiest way to gather information and drown some of his regret for not being able to save his father. After leaving the bar, Dench met a small talking squirrel named Tupai Kiterit and a Dryad named Verdana. He suggested traveling with the two of them, as he felt they lacked the physical ability to handle close combat very well. Tupai was reluctant, but Verdana insisted that Dench was welcome. Later that day, the three of them met a human named Emeth Mechapes and an Elf named Aariel Moonsong. Verdana became immediately enamored with the Elf. Dench spoke with the human briefly, discovering that Emeth knew the identity of Thokks killer, a Drow named Keldon. He mentioned something vaguely cryptic about how he does a lot of business with a certain church that he was familiar with, but didn't give much information besides that. The group set up for the night at the Inn where Dench was drinking earlier. As oppose to sleeping, he decided to wander the town at night looking for any thugs who might know about his fathers killer, but came up empty. The next morning, Emeth announced that he found a key to a cave not far from the town. The group ventured out to the cave, and in it Dench saw a face he would never forget and rushed into combat in a blind fury. Keldon was able to escape, but he dropped a magic pendant while doing so. The pendent had an enchantment leading them to a slave encampment in the human territory run by the church of Zaurus. The slavers attacked the group on sight, but they were easily able to defeat them and free the slaves. After a bit of investigation, the group discovered that the church of Zaurus was in close leagues with the church of Tharizdun. Furious about losing Keldon, Dench began to track him down relentlessly. The trail led to an abandoned mine shaft, and so he ventured in to track the Drow down. Inside the mine shaft, he came face to face with a pair of Bugbears looting a corpse. Dench quickly dispatched them, and checked to see what was on the corpse. Unfortunately, there was nothing of use on the corpse, and the trail left by Keldon had gone cold. Before leaving the mine shaft, Dench was overwhelmed by a powerful stench to the point he nearly vomited. He turned to see a Troglodyte baring its fangs at him. Though it was difficult to focus through the smell, he was able to kill the Troglodyte. Returning to the group, clearly feeling ill, Verdana cured Dench of any sickness he might be afflicted with, and they continued on their way. The group continued to use the pendant to lead them to church of Tharizdun camps, in one of the fights that would follow the pendant was broken. The group then had to start following other leads, after they interrogated some remaining members of the church the group discovered that the church was assassinating the leaders of Bretton. The party headed into the Hazy Mountains to warn the Shogun of the Kitsune that lived there, they arrived just in time to help ward off the assassins, but the Shogun was hurt. After securing the Shoguns safety, the party moved downwards into the Mythrin Woods to warn Ohken. They arrived there to find that he was training a new druid who was in turn slowly poisoning the great treant. The group managed to fend off the pack of assassins coming to kill the weakened leader, as Verdana squared off against the elven druid, the following fight badly damaged the forests life force. After Ohken was cared for and beginning to heal the party left for the Forest of Lunarissitha, there they were able to keep the Queen of the white elves safe, as Dench fought and killed Keldon, finally extracting revenge for his father. However, after doing this, he still felt empty inside. As if his fight was not done. They then departed back to Santaris to protect the king of humanity, Darian Santaris. Upon becoming his royal security the group began to uncover the truth and realized that he was the leader of the church of Tharizdun and orchestrated all of the previous attacks. Upon confronting him the King used all of the royal blood he had acquired to summon a Demogorgon using an ancient arcane ritual. The group managed to hold off the Demogorgon as Tupai fought and defeated the King ending the enchantment. The group continued to defend Bretton for about a decade, but Dench still felt empty inside, and left after about six years to travel for a bit and see if he could find some meaning after finally killing Keldon. Pre Orc Elf War As Dench traveled through the Nimiane Archipelago with a small portion his fathers army, he happened across a small elf settlement on one of the islands. Hoping for a simple place to rest, the inhabitants of the island proved to be less than hospitable. The elves attacked the orcs almost immediately, and so they retaliated, killing a small number of the elves. Before things got out of hand, Dench was able to stop combat and made a request to settle things with their leader. Throughout the settlement, he could see that the elves were looking at him with judging eyes. Whether it was because of his appearance, or simply because he was an orc, he was never really sure. Dench met with the leader of the settlement, hoping to settle things as peacefully as he could, however they didn't see eye to eye. After a heated argument, ending in the elf leader uttering some racial slurs and demanding the orcs leave the island at once, Dench flew into a rage and killed him. Though it didn't completely fill the void in his heart, it certainly helped a little. He brought the head out of the leaders tent, threw it on the ground and ordered his soldiers to slaughter everyone. An order they quickly followed. After a short while, the orcs had killed all of the elves on the island. As his forces began setting up camps, he began thinking about how he killed the elves, and how it made him feel. Though it helped quell the feeling of emptiness, it still returned. He then thought about what would happen if he were to kill drow instead of regular elves. And so, once the army arrived, he ordered a portion of his soldiers to stay on the island and populate it. The rest of the army continued through the Nimiane Archipelago, and they happened across an abandoned island. After landing, Dench and his soldiers made sure to take out all of the mildly intelligent creatures that were inhabiting the island. Shortly after clearing the island, Dench once again left soldiers to populate the island and set out. Continuing on his war path, they came across an island inhabited by humans. Quickly noticing how the humans felt about orcs venturing onto their island, he decided it best not to waste any time and began slaughtering the humans on the island right away. Leaving just the leader of the human colony alive, albeit a little worse for wear, Dench demanded that he direct him to the largest colony of drow in the area. Hoping the orcs would spare him, the man directed them to the continent Unitas. Begging for his life, Dench decided the only form of mercy the man deserved was a quick death. After slaughtering the humans as well, Dench confirmed his feeling about attacking the drow and how much more satisfying it would be, and so he sent word for the entirety of his forces to make way for the island he now named Dencheryl. After a few days, the rest of Dench's forces made it to the island. Spending a year building up his forces strength, as well as his own, Dench decided it was time to wage war against the drow on Unitas. Orc Elf War After landing at Unitas, Dench and his army made their way to Crombern so that they might join forces. The leader of the orcs scoffed at the thought of a half-breed being in charge of an army, which prompted Dench to challenge the leader for control of the army. Thinking the fight would be over in a matter of moments, the orc leader accepted the challenge. Unfortunately for the him, the fight was indeed over in a matter of moments, but not in his favour. Dench then married the queen of the orcs (as was custom after having defeated the previous ruler), and after having seized control of the army, Dench started marching on towards the drows. Once they arrived at the drow territory, the Orcs started slaughtering them relentlessly, with Dench doing the most damage. The drow were caught off guard, and completely outmatched, so they had little choice but to retreat. During his campaign, Dench was approached by Emeth, whom he had not seen in a long time. Emeth asked what he thought would come of this battle, and Dench simply replied that with any luck, the death of all the filthy elves. After giving his answer, Emeth left Dench's side, and once again he was alone. He had become so blinded by his unjust vengeance, that he could hardly see the difference between drow and elf anymore. As the army reached the drow capital, Dench spotted a few more familiar faces, namely Aariel, Verdana and Faunen. Pulling himself back to see how his old comrades would act, it became clear that they sided with the drow in this fight. After the army was pushed out of the capital, and his old friends helped his enemy fortify it, Dench became stricken with rage. He proceeded to pillage and burn the small towns surrounding the capital, ensuring that he left no survivors. Hoping to calm their old friend, Verdana and Aariel arranged a meeting to speak with Dench about forming a treaty, but he was still furious. He told them that they were either with him or against him, and they already made it clear they stood against him. Before leaving the meeting, he informed them that they were 'as bad as the drow' and would treat them as such. For three years, Dench and his army clashed with the elves, his wrath not only fell on the drow now, but on the elves as well. He felt betrayed by people he once called friends, and became filled with nothing but hatred. It blinded him to the point that not only soldiers, but women and children became his targets, and the orc army reveled in it. The army laid waste to small towns and villages, which Aariel couldn't protect. During the fighting, Verdana would purposefully avoid direct conflict with Dench, hoping that he could still be saved. These elves were the most formidable force Dench had ever faced, and his army was eventually pushed back to the borders of Anor. After this large set back to his army, Aariel led her army into one final charge against the orcs. Verdana and other druids kept the orcs contained by shifting the earth around them. Aariel was able to carve through the orc army reaching Dench, and completely consumed by anger he attempted to kill her. Though his strength was formidable, Aariel's quick reflexes got the better of him and she pierced his heart. Dench fell to the ground motionless, and his army surrendered, as their commander was no more. After Dench's soldiers dropped their weapons, Emeth arrived and simply congratulated Aariel on her victory as he left with the body to put it to rest. Equipment Dench possesses his fathers Great Axe, and half-plate armor painted with drow blood. Powers Dench's strength and ferocity as a barbarian are unrivaled on the battle field.